New results from a federal test show that Wisconsin has made little improvement in narrowing racial disparities in math and reading scores, The Capital Times reports. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, the gap between scores of Black and white students in those subject areas continues to be the largest nationwide.
Wisconsin’s test scores reportedly remained stagnant across grade levels and subjects from 2022. Forty-two percent of Wisconsin’s fourth graders scored proficient or higher in math, about 3 percentage points above the national average, but just 5% of Black fourth graders in the state met or exceeded proficiency in the subject, compared with 51% of white students.
In reading, 31% of Wisconsin’s fourth graders met or exceeded proficiency, nearly the same as the national average. Roughly 38% of white fourth graders scored proficient or higher, compared with 8% of Black students.
State Superintendent Jill Underly calls the news “an urgent wake-up call” and urged state lawmakers to increase school funding to help close gaps. She has proposed a $4 billion increase in school funding over the next two years in the state’s budget.
